As a follow up to last week’s post on homemade laundry detergent, I decided that I would discuss the other ways in which I make my laundry room more Eco and Environmentally friendly.

Equipment

When we moved into our home 10 years ago, we inherited from the previous owners a washer from the 1980′s and a dryer from the 70s.  It would take over an hour to get my clothes dry. This was not going to work with our growing family and growing mountains of laundry.

A few months later I was the proud owner of a front-load washer and dryer. Front-load washing machings use very little water and spin so quickly that clothes come out drier thus cutting down drying time. This is a great way to help save energy and money.

 Reducing our dryer usage

Even though my washing machine is very energy efficient, I don’t like to use my dryer unless I’m in a rush or I missed getting the clothes out of the washing machine and so they are completely wrinkled. I usually like to hang my clothes outside in the spring/summer months and indoors, in my basement in the winter months. I find that when I hang my clothes, I am able to get most of the wrinkles out and that’s great because I REALLY hate to iron. Using the sun’s rays and warmth (Free), or the warmth of our house, I am able to reduce my energy bill.

Eco-Friendly Fabric Softener

Since I hang my clothes, I like to use fabric softener but I hate to think about all the chemicals that are used to make it. So a few years back, after doing research online and hands-on testing in the laundry room,  I found out that vinegar (yes you read that right) works fabulously!

I’ve been using it with every load of laundry now for over 2 years and it’s fantastic. It’s economical, our clothes do not smell like vinegar or like a field of flowers for that matter, and I am happy knowing that I’m not using chemicals on items that my family wears day in and day out.

Stain Remover

With three kids at home I’m very familiar with stains. Grease, grass, blood, food, you name it I’ve encountered it. There is nothing better than early treatment, but I know that many times things get missed. If a stain goes through the dryer it is much harder to be successful at removing it.

I’ve tried many different stain removers but one day I asked Twitterverse for help finding a good stain remover. I got the basic Shout, Oxi, but then someone answered Murphy’s Oil.

I’m sure your reaction was the same as mine, however my curiosity was peaked. I tried it out and much to my surprise, it worked on many of the stains my clothes had. I just poured some oil directly on the stain, laundered it as I normally do and bingo! Stain gone. If it was an older stain or one that went through the dryer I usually let the Murphy’s Oil sit on the stain for an hour or longer. It does not work on everything but I did find that it worked well on many. Also, if you read the back of the bottle, apart from being a wood floor cleaner, it states that it can remove laundry stains.

Do  you have any other suggestions? I’d love to hear how you make your laundry room more eco-friendly.

At our house, we have two boys who love to play sports outside and spend a lot of time on their knees stopping goals, a daughter who loves to get play in the dirt/sand/mud, and a husband who plays soccer 2 to 3 nights a week, so needless to say there never is a shortage of laundry to do.

At first I always used Tide since that’s what my mother always used, then the kids came along so Ivory Snow was thrown into the mix. Then, after becoming more educated on what ingredients companies use and how that can affect us and our environment, I decided to be much more concious of what I was using around the house, in terms of cleaning supplies, food, bath and body supplies, etc.It became very important to me. At first I started using Ecos, a soy based laundry detergent, but I wasn’t very happy with the cleanliness of the clothes.

I researched laundry detergent online and came across a numerous amount of blogs and websites that make their own detergent. I thought about it and decided that it couldn’t be that hard and felt that this was the best choice for my family. I could control what I was putting into it.

I knew that I wanted powdered detergent, not liquid, and so I tried a few different recipes. Over time I found that I like the one found here.

Homemade laundry detergent is very easy to make, it’s economical and I find that as long as I’m on top of the stains, it cleans quite well.

If you would like to try it out, here’s what you need.

Powdered Laundry Detergent

•   1 Cup Grated Bar Soap
•   1/2 Cup Washing Soda
•   1/2 Cup Borax

I then use 2 Tablespoons for a regular load. I use more for a heavier or more soiled load and less for a lighter load. Easy! Here’s how to put it together:

Grate the bar soap. I buy Zote soap which is available in Hispanic/Latin stores, but you could use Sunlight, Ivory or another kind. When I grate the whole Zote bar soap I get about 8 cups of grated soap, therefore I just make 8 times the recipe.

Put 4 cups of the grated soap in a food processor. Add 4 cups of washing soda and 4 cups of Borax. Process until it’s mixed well.

It will look like this when you’re done

Repeat with the rest.

That’s it that’s all. Homemade laundry detergent. Told you it was easy